He sat as him computer, typing away. He'd gotten through eleven pages of his novel but he wasn't ready to stop yet. Until he remembered.
"Crap, gotta go check the fire," Cody said, rising from his chair. He limped out of his bedroom and down the dimly lit hallway. He flipped the light switch before descending downstairs into the basement. He looked over at the wood stove, which only contained glowing red coals now. Limping towards it he opened the front and grabbed a piece of wood. Just as he was about to toss the log into the stove the basement light went out.
"God dammit," Cody muttered as he walked over to the second switch at the bottom of the stairs. He flipped it and the lights turned on again. He walked back to the fire and crouched down to pick up the log again. As soon as he picked it up the lights flickered out again.
"What the fuck!" Cody yelled. He began to rise when something grabbed his hair from behind. "You didn't get the memo, did you? I'm not supposed to die. It's one of the rules of the game. I'm never the killer, and I never die. Better people than you have tried to kill me in the past," Cody tried to sound calm, but there was a sense of nervousness in his voice.
The killer just chuckled and pulled Cody's head back before slamming it into the top of the wood stove. Cody could feel his skin melting and bubbling and he screamed out in pain. He felt his face being peeled off of the stove and he took in a raspy breath. He could feel tears coming to his eyes. So much he still had left to do.
The killer turned his head and smashed the other side into the top of the stove. Once again, the searing pain and terrible smell of burning flesh overloaded Cody's senses. Once again, his face was peeled off of the stove. This time, he was brought down straight into the top of the stove. He closed his eyes reflexively but could feel his eyelids melting and burning his eyes. His nose began to sink into his face and his lips were soon nonexistent. Tears were pouring from his eyes but they were vaporized as soon as they touched the stove, boiling and burning his eyes even more.
After what seemed like an eternity, his face was peeled back once again. He couldn't say anything, didn't get any last words. He couldn't see anything, unable of getting a look at his killer, and the only thing he could smell was boiling flesh. He felt himself being pulled back, before he heard the familiar creaking of the wood stove being opened more. His mind was filled with hatred, despair, longing, and one thought that repeated over and over. He knew he was going to die before seeing the person he loved again. Without even getting the chance to say good-bye to her.
The killer pulled him back and grabbed him around his belt loop before tossing him, headfirst, into the wood stove. Unfortunately for the killer, he head and shoulders were the only thing that fit in the stove.
Cody felt his head slam into the back of the stove and could feel his face being eaten by the red hot coals. He felt his shirt catch fire and felt the burning as it spread down his back, before catching his pants on fire. It spread down his legs, and all around him.
He no longer felt a thing though. He had passed out long ago, but he knew the killer was watching him burn, most likely regretting that Cody hadn't been able to scream out in pain.